Aussie Dave Wrote:
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> Talking to several bands and artists over the
> years, the artists couldn't care less. It's the
> labels and people scared they'll lose their jobs
> if a band doesn't make Top 10 etc. As a fan I
> couldn't care any less about chart position. The
> ONLY people who care anymore are the one's scared
> they'll lose a job if something doesn't sell. Why
> do we even have charts anymore? I never hear
> anyone talking about it anymore. Most record
> stores wouldn't display it. There's virtually no
> countdown or Top 40 hits shows anymore. I can see
> charts becoming extinct soon enough.

Charts are never going away, they are part of the industry. They are still everywhere, you're just not looking in the right places. Websites have the charts, digital retailers have charts, amazon have charts, some radio stations still do chart rundowns. the UK charts even have their own website, billboard charts are still important...

Of course charts don't matter to 90% of the bands posted on here because most of them never sell enough copies to make a real dent on the charts nowadays, nowhere near. For bands that do, like Shinedown, etc they are still important. They can say all they like that the charts don't matter but they are on a major label. If the record doesn't sell (and therefore chart) they will end up getting dropped, not much different to how it was back in the day. It is also used for PR, to convince stations to play their songs, stores to stock their items etc, etc. even when booking shows sometimes.

No the charts are not important to the fans, certainly not in this scene any ways, but they are still used constantly by the industry. It would look bad for Shinedown if all of their albums were top 10 and then suddenly the new one only made top 30 because there was no vinyl. It doesn't matter the reasoning they will be judged on that as not being as popular or as succesful as they used to be..It sucks, but it is what it is. A lot of people seem to forget that the music business is still a business...of course the label wants maximum exposure, highest chart positions and maximum sales. That's their job. That's literally what they are there for. If they didn't want that, then that would be a problem...

if you follow the UK scene at all, many of the younger bands like Massive wagons, Kris Barras etc, as well as the older bands like The Wildhearts, Thunder, etc, have managed to get into the top 10 over the last few years, and have pushed hard on their socials for this. Earache records also do a great job on chart campaigns, by reducing the digital version of the album week of release, offering bundles and different formats. This is all to get as high a chart postion as possible and there is a reason for that. Getting a top 10 opens more doors than top 20 does, then a top 30 does etc. Even now...

Thinny



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2022 10:17PM by thinny.